Two attorneys seek a seat on Dracut board

DRACUT -- A pair of local attorneys with significant name recognition in Dracut have entered the race for two seats on the Board of Selectmen, expanding the field of candidates to five.

Tami Dristiliaris and Gilbert Nason will join previously announced challenger Tony Archinski on the April 30 town election ballot, vying against incumbents Cathy Richardson and George Malliaros. Unlike Archinski, Nason and Dristiliaris are first-time candidates.

Dristiliaris, 52, said the primary reason she is running for selectman is because of a "lack of leadership" she sees on the board. She said selectmen should have been much more proactive in searching for a new town manager to replace Dennis Piendak, who for two years has been planning to retire in November.

"This board still really doesn't have a plan in place. They've hired a consultant group to tell them how to go about finding candidates for a town manager, when it is something they could be doing on their own."

If elected, Dristiliaris will speed the process of finding Piendak's replacement to allow for more of a transition period, she pledged.

"We need to have a town a manager in place well before Dennis is scheduled to leave, and right now it doesn't look like that's going to happen; it's taking too long. I believe I could move the process along and bring it to a resolution quicker."

Dristiliaris said a similar lack of foresight and leadership occurred when it came to remaking Town Hall, with selectmen acting only after the town was sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

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Dristiliaris has been married for 34 years to husband George, and they have four grown children and three grandchildren. In addition to her law practice, she is a registered nurse and adjunct professor of nursing at Middlesex Community College. She is also president of Dracut Library Foundation, Dracut Food Pantry volunteer, and board member of the Salvation Army in Lowell and Merrimack Valley Food Bank.

"People know who I am in town, and I know them. They know I'm a hard worker, a business person, someone whose family attends a lot of town events," said Dristiliaris. "Anybody who knows me knows that I'm a hard worker, a driven person who gets things done."

Gilbert Nason, 45, said he became motivated to launch his first candidacy for political office in December in response to the Dracut selectmen's divided vote on giving town employees New Year's Eve day -- the Monday before New Year's -- off. Cathy Richardson's decision to cast her solo opposition vote was an example of the sort of divisive partisan politics that he detests, Nason said.

"New Year's fell on a Tuesday, and they were going to have to open up Town Hall for the one day before, and one of the selectman (Richardson) said, 'Too bad,' " recalled Nason, who agreed with Selectman Joe DiRocco's motion to close Town Hall on Monday. "(Richardson) was putting partisan politics before people."

Richardson had said before the vote that awarding a free vacation day to town employees was unfair to residents who work in the private sector and are required to use personal vacation time to have New Year's Eve off, herself included.

"There's not enough bi-partisan decision-making today, I believe," said Nason.

Nason is a lifelong Dracut resident and former convenience-store owner. He is married with three children, ages 22, 13 and 10. He has been practicing law for a year, having passed the bar last February, he said.

Another reason he's running is to lead an effort to expand the town's commercial tax base, he said.

If elected, Nason pledged to be readily accessible to Dracut residents through social media.

"I want to give an easy way to get in touch with me and air their opinions so I'll have an idea of exactly what my constituents want," said Nason.

Nason said he is hoping to self-finance his campaign to minimize the number of contributors he would later feel indebted to in office.

Also, if elected, Nason said he will refuse the annual $2,000 stipend paid to board members.

"I'm not going to take it. I'll either donate it to the school district or a scholarship," said Nason. "When it comes to serving as a selectman in a small town, I don't think anybody should be taking the pay."

Selectmen voted Tuesday to reschedule Town Election from May 6 to April 30 to coincide with the special primary election to fill John Kerry's seat in the U.S. Senate. The deadline for residents to return nomination papers to run for town or school office is March 12.

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